It’s a common misconception that white eggs and brown eggs differ in nutritional value, but they do however differ in price. The reason behind that isn’t as obvious as you might have thought.
All chickens have varying egg colors, and that’s completely normal. However, the factor is not regarding the nutritional value of the egg itself, but of the diet the chicken is on and the specific breed of the hen.
Genetics determine whether or not hens possess pigment genes, the natural chemical during the egg laying process that coats the egg and results in a colored shell. Shell color can vary from shades of white to shades of brown to even blue, in some rare breeds.
One way to determine what color egg a hen will lay is to look at the color of their ear feathers. Breeds such as the Leghorn chicken lay white eggs while Orpington’s lay brown eggs, and Ameraucana lay blue eggs.
Because hens that lay brown eggs are typically larger and require more feed, the price of the eggs is more than hens who are smaller, require less feed, and lay white eggs.
The answer is simpler than you probably thought!